UC calendar shifts to avoid religious conflict

DAVIS -- The University of California has shifted the academic calendar of its campuses on the quarterly system to avoid religious conflicts with move-in days.

The Sacramento Bee reports (http://bit.ly/1aZucyd ) this year the Jewish High Holy Days fall at the end of September, delaying the start of the academic year until Oct. 2.

The change will result in shorter winter breaks in 2014 for thousands of students at UC Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Barbara and Santa Cruz.

The policy was issued in June 2007 after members of the Jewish community complained that move-in days in 2006 conflicted with the Holy Days. Those holidays move depending on the lunar-based Jewish calendar.

The policy last came into play in 2009, when move-in days for the semester schools at Berkeley and Merced conflicted with the Muslim holiday Ramadan.